Abortion Advocates Downplay Potential for Passing Radical FOCA Bill
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 24, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Leading abortion advocates are downplaying the potential for getting the radical Freedom of Choice Act approved in Congress. That’s the bill that makes unlimited abortions throughout pregnancy the national law and overturns hundreds of pro-life laws that have cut millions of abortions.
Since Barack Obama’s presidential victory and the addition of more pro-abortion members to the House and Senate, pro-life groups have started the legwork needed to lobby members of Congress against the bill.
They’ve launched special petitions and web sites to inform more pro-life advocates about the far-reaching effects of the bill and to prepare them to call and email Capitol Hill when the time comes.
But Nancy Keenan, the president of NARAL, says she thinks her pro-abortion colleagues may have a hard time getting the bill to Obama to sign.
"There’s a lot of work that needs to be done before we even get around to considering a FOCA vote," Keenan told Reuters on Monday.
Keenan’s lay of the land also differs somewhat from that of pro-life advocates and she told the news agency that she believes there are 185 members of the House who are pro-abortion, 204 who are pro-life, and 46 who have a mixed position. That’s a higher percentage of lawmakers who are pro-life than pro-life groups believe exist.
Other than the FOCA bill, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards says getting away from abstinence funding and diverting more taxpayer dollars to her group to promote birth control is one of its top agenda items under an Obama administration.
"Making more family planning affordable right off the bat … and moving away from abstinence-only education. Those are two areas where we are hoping for significant change," she told Reuters.
The abstinence funding cuts will come after decisions on a different set of funds.
On the first day of his administration, Obama is expected to rescind the Bush policies preventing taxpayer funding of abortion overseas and new embryonic stem cell research involving the destruction of human life.
"We have to reverse so much of the bad policy under Bush … I think it’s a new day for privacy and freedom in this country," Keenan said.
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